Palestinian Authority unveils $67b Gaza reconstruction plan

The Palestinian Authority revealed a three-stage plan to reconstruct the Gaza Strip, investing $67 billion over five years. Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Muhammad Mustafa said that in the first phase, $3.5 billion will be needed to meet immediate humanitarian needs and critical infrastructure. After that, the second phase lasts three years and invests $30 billion, and only in the third and final phase is work done to complete the reconstruction of the comprehensive destruction in Gaza as a result of the two-year war.

The plan presented by Mustafa is based on a United Nations report issued last February, which estimated the cost of damage in the Gaza Strip at about $70 billion. A BBC fact-finding investigation last week concluded, based on satellite images, that the scale of the devastation may require the evacuation of more than 60 million tonnes of debris, even before the actual reconstruction process begins.

“The level of destruction in the region now stands at 84%,” says Jaco Cilliers, the UN Development Agency’s envoy for Palestinian affairs. “In certain areas of Gaza, for example Gaza City, this percentage rises to 92%.” According to the Gaza Municipality, about 90% of the roads were damaged.

Mustafa says talks are taking place between Ramallah and international partners regarding the reconstruction process, while also aiming to regain control of the Gaza Strip. “We are working day and night to regain control of the area,” the Palestinian prime minister claims, even though Hamas internal security forces have redeployed on the ground and are executing suspects accused of alleged cooperation with Israel.

Dr. Ido Zelkovich, an expert in Palestinian affairs and head of the Middle East Studies Program at Jezreel Valley College, and a researcher at the University of Haifa, says, “The Palestinian Authority does not have the ability to rehabilitate itself, as it is a regional player trying to rely on the Saudis and the Emirates to participate in Trump’s plan. Ramallah itself is facing a severe economic crisis, after the failure of the transfer of authority.” Money from Israel.

Most of the Palestinian Authority’s economy depends on external donations

Dr. Zelkowitz emphasizes that most of the Palestinian Authority’s economy depends on external donations, which are aimed at sustaining the bloated public sector. “The situation in Ramallah is clear from the fact that the salaries of its employees have been continuously reduced over the past year and a half. Even now, after the latest reduction has resulted in many PA officials receiving about half their salaries, they are still coming to work to try to maintain the state’s minimum performance. It is a required function from Ramallah’s point of view, in order to try to present itself to the international community as a legitimate actor in the state.”

Hamas terrorists continue to commit their crimes against the people of the Gaza Strip, with destruction all around them. The United Nations Satellite Center (UNOSAT) estimates that about 282,000 homes and apartments in the Gaza Strip have been damaged or destroyed. Meanwhile, according to UNICEF, more than 70% of water and sanitation infrastructure has been damaged, and power is almost non-existent. The Gaza Strip was built on access to energy from Israel and the flow of fuel from abroad, which was cut off during the war. In return, Hamas has reinforced many of the tunnels with solar panels that continue to pump out energy.

The future of the Gaza Strip is also shrouded in uncertainty. The analysis by Professor He Yin of Kent State University, reported by the BBC, concluded that 82.4% of annual crops and more than 97% of tree crops across the Gaza Strip were likely to be damaged during the war until August 10 this year. In addition, UNRWA, which has been widely discredited, claimed that about 91.8% of the 288 schools it runs in the Gaza Strip had been damaged. Therefore, both in terms of livelihood and education, the reconstruction process is expected to be long and complex.

Qatar and Turkey – two countries that do not wait for Hamas to relinquish power in the Gaza Strip – are leading the reconstruction process, and may even prefer to “push” aid into the Gaza Strip in order to impose a fait accompli that their terrorist friends in Hamas remain in power.

In Türkiye, Erdogan’s regime quickly started the propaganda machine over the weekend to complain about preventing the Turks from entering the Gaza Strip. Public broadcaster TRT, which operates in Israel from a bureau in Jerusalem, reported that 81 “Turkish aid workers and AFAD rescue agency employees” were waiting at the Rafah crossing.

Dr. Yoel Guzansky, who previously coordinated engagement with Iran and the Gulf at the National Security Council and currently serves as a senior researcher and head of the Gulf Program at the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) at Tel Aviv University, says the current situation in the Gaza Strip is worse than it was before October 7, because while Israel was previously accustomed to Qatar, now Qatar and Turkey are engaged there, under an American umbrella for Qatar. Ceasefire agreement.

“Right now, things are going in a bad direction,” Dr. Guzanski adds. “Turkey and Qatar, so to speak, are coming without preconditions, unlike the Saudis and the United Arab Emirates, which sent low-ranking officials to the Sharm el-Sheikh conference because of their dissatisfaction. The Saudis want a Palestinian Authority in Gaza, or a broad regional solution. The UAE wants a reformed Palestinian Authority and a political horizon, the kind that is difficult to see in the current government. I am afraid we will be like that.” We will see the Qataris and Turks in the Gaza Strip in a worse situation than they were before the war.”

Qatar and Turkey are interested in Hamas as a sovereign

According to Dr. Guzansky, Qatar and Turkey are interested in Hamas as sovereign, and therefore act in strict coordination. “The Qataris and Turks told Hamas: Let us sign the ceasefire agreement, and we will solve it in the second stage.” Hamas wanted the war to stop, and now with every passing day, Hamas is growing stronger. Time is working on Hamas’s side. It is true that the Qataris are wealthy, but they are more pragmatic thanks to American influence. Türkiye has a downright anti-Semitic leader who aspires to lead the Middle East. Israel must not allow any Turks to enter the Gaza Strip. If there is a need for bulldozers, let them go in with the Egyptians.”

In an attempt to protect the West’s interests and prevent Qatar and Turkey from returning “order” in the Gaza Strip to the situation that existed before October 7 or even worse, as Dr. Guzanski warned, the United Kingdom, Egypt and the Palestinian Authority last week convened senior private sector officials at Wilton Park, an executive agency of the British Foreign Office, to bring investments into the devastated Gaza Strip.

“The scale of the devastation demonstrates the immediate need for solutions,” a joint statement said. “The reconstruction of Gaza will cost tens of billions of dollars, and will require financing and active participation from the private sector. Discussions have made significant progress in identifying ways to generate private financing, with the Palestinians front and center in recovery and reconstruction efforts.”

Published by Globes, Israel Business News – en.globes.co.il – on October 19, 2025.

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